Hi there, Dr. Kelly Vincent here. If we haven’t met, I am a Clinical Psychologist and the owner here at Nourished Wellness Group. My self-discovery and healing journey over the past decade has included a lot of experimentation, along with a lot of unlearning, deconstructing, and inviting new ways of being.

When it comes to supporting yourself holistically, you have to find what works for you. And to find what works for you, you often have to try new things. New practices, experiences, gadgets, tools, and ideas. That said, I want to invite you into the world of Biohacking. I know it sounds a little aggressive, but let’s explore in more detail what it is, why you would do it, and the how.

WHAT IS BIOHACKING?

Biohacking is a term used to describe an individual supporting or supplementing their biology to make intentional changes in their mind and bodies. It can involve making incremental changes to their bodies, diet, and lifestyle to improve their health and well-being. They may do this by using tools or working with their natural biology to support a mental or physical health goal.

If you did a Google search, you might read that biohacking is also known as human augmentation or a do-it-yourself (DIY) form of human enhancement (sounds a little weird, I know). Essentially, it is the idea that we have the power and control to shift our biology in ways that support our overall wellness needs.

In so many ways, I believe (and it is my opinion) that the work you do in therapy is a form of biohacking. Here at Nourished Wellness Group, we provide psycho-education about your nervous system and work to help you shift out of your stress response in an intentional, regulated way. We work to deconstruct negative beliefs and reflect and optimize lifestyle routines and choices. In a way, these incremental changes all impact and influence your biology (more specifically, your nervous system state).

PBS News interviewed Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof Coffee and self-proclaimed biohacker. Here’s what he said about it: “There are two perspectives on biohacking. One is that biohacking is something you do to biology outside of yourself; you’re going to change a cell; you’re going change an amoeba and make it glow in the dark. The other perspective on biohacking, where I spend my time, is that you can hack your own biology, and you can gain control of systems in your body that you would never have access to.”

The way I see it, Biohacking is a way to work with your body in an intentional way by either receiving physiological feedback and then making changes based on that data or utilizing tools to help soothe, heal and build (e.g. at the cellar level).

WHY biohacking?

When it comes to supporting your mental health, it is genuinely about intentional changes in your day-to-day life. It is about learning new knowledge, engaging with this new knowledge, and then optimizing it to fit your individual needs. We all know that feeling when we’ve committed to an intentional, healthy change and start to benefit from our effort. It can be a magical thing. We may then look at Biohacking as a vehicle for that change. An intentional practice focused on your physical body and physiology.

Let’s explore an example…

When I noticed daily headaches, especially in the afternoon, I wanted to figure out 1) why and 2) what can I do about it. I chatted with one of my closest friends, who happens to be a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Rachel Helmer, NTP. This conversation led to her gently inquiring about how much water I drank daily. Leslie Korn, Ph.D. talks about drinking at least 50% of your body weight in water per day (For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, that would be at least 75 ounces of water a day.) When I reflected on my intake, I wasn’t even close to my ideal amount of water per day. Rachel Helmer, NPT talks about the benefits of electrolytes and unrefined sea salt, so I threw those in my water too. After drinking at least 50 oz per day, I’ve noticed a HUGE difference in how I feel overall. When I step back, I realize that I severely undersupported my biology. We need hydration to ensure the systems are working optimally. Water helps to regulate body temperature and moistens tissues in the eyes, nose and mouth. It protects body organs and tissues and carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, according to the Mayo Clinic. When the biological systems are supported, then in turn, the mind is supported. For hardcore biohackers, this is probably a basic example, but to me, it illustrates the idea of supporting your biology in small, intentional ways.

Reasons to Biohack

You want to…

Have control over your health
Explore and experiment with new ideas to support your health
Optimize the way you feel on the inside
Build immunity and longevity
Support your body as it, in turn, supports your mind
Work with your biology, not against it

Ways to biohack

Before we dive into the how, please know that every person is different, and their needs are different. It is always best to work with your primary providers (medical doctor or therapist) to get their insight and perspective, as they know you and your history. For example, at Nourished Wellness Group, our clinicians strive to look at each client as a whole and tailor supplemental practices that align with their specific needs and presenting concerns.

Alright, let’s dive into the Biohacking I’ve tried, how it worked, and what I thought.

Wearable Technology

Our society can definitely be tech overloaded, but I am all for technology when it is utilized intentionally. One biohacking method that can be pretty accessible is integrating wearable technology. Wearable technology helps give you a pulse (no pun intended) or snapshot of where you are at that very moment.

HeartMath

When you are relaxed, you have a rhythmic heart rate variability or the amount of time between each beat. Under stress, your body resorts to a fixed, inflexible rhythm. HeartMath technologies (like the emWave2 or the Inner Balance™ Sensor) use a tiny sensor to calculate your heart rate variability and warn you that you are showing signs of stress (perhaps before you even realize it). The sensor clips to your ear. The HeartMath app guides you to take deep breaths every five seconds as you listen to music or meditate to resume relaxed heart rate variability. It helps bring somatic awareness when you are stressed or your nervous system responds in a more sympathetic (fight/flight) state and teaches you to prevent stress before it starts. It is a guided tool to bring you back into your window of tolerance while building awareness of your nervous system state.

VERDICT ($): I like it! This tool has been easy, accessible, somewhat affordable, and practical to integrate into daily practices. It is a great way to get insight into your physiology, specifically your nervous system state. I really loved getting the biofeedback of where my system was at and being able to intentionally work my way back into coherence (feeling grounded, calm, safe).

Sensate

Their website describes the Sensate as “The natural power of infrasonic resonance can be felt in every cell, soothing your body’s nervous system and putting you to sleep.” In full transparency, this company gave me their product to try. I am always up to try new ways to support my mind and body. Essentially, you place the Sensate on your chest, connect it to their app, and then allow yourself to drift into a calm state. Sensate emits precisely engineered sound waves directly into the body, sending a powerful, stress-alleviating signal directly to your autonomic nervous system. The vibrations are paired with powerful meditation music to allow you to drop into your experience.

VERDICT ($$): I liked, liked it! The vibrations, coupled with the music, truly allowed me to drop into the experience and fully focus on what I was experiencing in my body. I usually use it right before bed, as it is a wonderful way to ignite signals in my body that we are preparing for sleep. It is super easy to transport and can be used at any time. It was a wonderful way to pair my meditation time, which felt like a great way to habit stack.

Nutrition

Nutrition can be a powerful way to impact and positively support your biology. When we nourish our bodies with nutrient-dense foods, we power up the systems to work most optimally. Diet is the largest single stimulus to the body’s biochemical balance or homeostasis (Kathleen D. Zamperini, LPC, NCC, NCGC-1, CMHIMP). One biohack I heard about when I lived in San Francisco was bulletproof coffee, which combines organic coffee, MCT oil, and butter. In moderate amounts, bulletproof coffee may help people feel more satiated, help prevent cardiovascular disease, and may help prevent certain cancers.

VERDICT ($): I am ALL for using nutrition to support my mind and body. However, products like Bulletproof Coffee are not my jam. Here is the disclaimer. My system does not do well with caffeine, specifically my gut. I enjoy the taste of coffee and its smells, but because of my gut-related struggles (due to a chronic dysregulated nervous system that I’ve been working to regulate in recent years), this did not match my need. If you are a coffee lover (and use it in moderation), this one can be an interesting one to try. What I tend to focus on is consuming whole, nutrient-dense foods. I’ve been figuring out what works best for MY body and utilizing supplements to support deficiencies. I also allow myself to be human not to create a “good” vs “bad” relationship with food. Instead, enjoying food and taking not of how it makes me feel.

SIDE NOTE: This is not something I’ve tried, but sounded super interesting. Nutrigenomics is another biohacking type that focuses on how food interacts with people’s genes. Likewise, it explores how a person’s genes affect their body’s response to food. Researchers are using nutrigenomics to learn more about diet and genes, how they may affect a person’s health risks, and to help find new ways to prevent and treat disease. According to Medical News Today, a person can send a DNA sample to a specialized laboratory, where their genetic makeup is analyzed. Then their healthcare team can use the results to create an optimized nutrition plan. This may involve avoiding certain foods linked to conditions they are genetically predisposed to.

Cold Plunging

Like it sounds, this Biohack utilizes cold water to support or enhance your biology. Based on the available literature, this review suggests that hydrotherapy was widely used to improve immunity and manage pain, fatigue, anxiety, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, hyperthermia, labor, etc. It produces different effects on various systems of the body depending on the temperature of water and though these effects are scientifically evidence-based, there is lack of evidence for the mechanism on how hydrotherapy improves these issues, which is one of the limitations of hydrotherapy, and further studies are required to find the mechanism of hydrotherapy on various diseases. Wim Hof, a breathwork coach and advocate of cold therapy, claims “frequent exposure to cold is linked to several different health benefits. For example, scientists have found evidence that exposure to cold speeds up metabolism. Another benefit of exposing your body to cold is reducing inflammation, swelling, and sore muscles. Furthermore, cold body therapy is also linked to improved sleep, more focus, and improved immune response.” Disclaimer: I am still searching for the links to the studies mentioned above.

VERDICT (-$): I love cold plunging (not in the moment :-). Here’s the thing, this practice has received a ton of attention in the past few years. The research on the benefits is lacking; however, I am speaking from how it has made me feel and my personal experience. I do feel there is an increase in mood, motivation, and energy. It does feel like a boot camp for your nervous system, as you are intentionally stressing it but then integrating intentional breath to help calm and soothe it back into your window of tolerance. Either way, it is something to try for yourself! Plus, if you live by a cold body of water, it is FREE!

Biomat

Alright, I’ve been very excited to get to this one. First, let me tell you what it is and then I will tell you my feelings about it. The Biomat is sometimes described as an infrared heating pad, but it truly is much more than that. It uses many pounds of hot amethyst crystal to produce a unique infrared light signal. BioMat uses certified natural crystal, and passes rigorous EMF testing. BioMat is a US FDA 510k registered medical device that can be used daily for pain and stress management. One of the distributors explains, “the BioMat combines far infrared rays, negative ion therapy and the superconductive healing properties of pure amethyst for the effective treatment of a range of health issues including: stress, insomnia, sprains and strains, post-surgical healing and scar reduction, joint and muscle soreness, chronic neck and back pain, heavy metal toxicity, inflammation, arthritis, Lyme disease and circulatory issues.” In my opinion, it provides much-needed stillness and opportunity for nervous system regulation, as you are slowing down by inviting in regulation.

VERDICT ($$$$): I LOVE, LOVE this mat with my entire being. The only negative thing I have to say about it is the price; however, when you learn about the intention of how it was crafted, the price point makes sense. It is not lost on me the privilege of using a product like this for your healing. Not everyone can access this tool, and I am aware of that. In terms of my experience, there is just something about this mat I cannot explain. Within 10 minutes of laying on it, I feel like I have dropped into the deepest savasana ever. It ignites this magnetic force where I feel extremely grounded and at ease from head to tow. My nervous system truly feels as it if is getting a restorative break from the stress of the day. It is soothing, calming, and relaxing. I feel a little dizzy after use, so it is essential to drink lots of water.